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Jan 5, 2026
This week’s themeWords that look like misspelling This week’s words 
The Absinthe Drinker, 1875-76
Art: Edgar Degas Previous week’s theme New words 
A.Word.A.Day
with Anu GargI heard a good one the other day: A priest, an imam, and a rabbit walk into a blood donation center. The nurse asks the rabbit: “What’s your blood type?” “I’m probably a type O,” says the rabbit. In that spirit, this week’s words may look funny at first glance. They are not typos, and they’re definitely not bunnies. Each is a real word, certified and housebroken, differing by just one letter from a more familiar neighbor. Call them orthographic near misses. Welcome to the lexical uncanny valley. These are words that trigger the red squiggly line in your brain (and probably your word processor). They look wrong, sound wrong, and feel wrong. Until they don’t. Beware of your Autocorrect this week. It will try to “fix” them. But stand your ground. A single letter makes all the difference. Just ask a blood bank. abjective
PRONUNCIATION:
(ab-JEK-tiv)
MEANING:
adjective: Tending to degrade, demoralize, or reduce to a lower state.
ETYMOLOGY:
From abject, from Latin abicere (to throw away). Earliest documented use: 1865.
USAGE:
“The 20 large color pictures of Mr. McGinley’s 20-something friends,
lovers, and fellow artists avoid the abjective grit of Mr. Clark’s
work and the noirish narcissism of Ms. Goldin’s.” Art Guide; The New York Times; Feb 21, 2003. A THOUGHT FOR TODAY:
We all live under the same sky, but we don't all have the same horizon.
-Konrad Adenauer, statesman (5 Jan 1876-1967)
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